An 80-tonne shipment of US anti-tank missiles has arrived in Ukraine - just the latest delivery of high-tech weapons aimed at inflicting maximum death and destruction on Putin's forces if he decides to invade.
A plane loaded with 300 Javelin missiles worth some $50million landed in capital Kiev late Tuesday, the third part of a $200million shipment of American military aid that is being sent to help its ally.
The shipment also contained grenade launchers, as well as ammunition and other non-lethal weapons systems, and comes in addition to other anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons already supplied by the UK, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Javelins are American-made missiles that use infrared technology to lock on to targets, rising high into the air before slamming down - making them especially deadly against tanks because their armour is thinnest on top, though Javelins can also be used to blow up buildings.
In addition to the Javelins, Ukraine has been given American Stinger missiles which use similar technology to take out aircraft and helicopters, as well as British-made NLAWs - another kind of anti-tank rocket.
While such weapons are unlikely to tip any conflict decisively in Ukraine's favour, they are designed to inflict punishing losses on Putin's forces to make any invasion as costly and bloody for Moscow as possible.
Russia has massed some 127,000 troops along with tanks and artillery on Ukraine's border, issuing a list of security demands that has prompted a flurry of high-level diplomatic talks in an attempt to head off an all-out war.
Elsewhere today...
- Biden warned Ukraine invasion would be the 'biggest since World War Two' and said Putin could be personally targeted by sanctions, prompting the Kremlin to warn that would destroy America's relations with Russia
- NATO said it has almost completed a written response to Russia's security demands which is due to be delivered this week, a make-or-break moment for security talks
- F-16 fighter jets under command of NATO arrived in Estonia today, with four more F-16s flying from Denmark to reinforce the Baltic region
- Presidential advisers from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met in Paris today for so-called 'Normandy talks' aimed at ending the war with Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine's east
- UK foreign secretary Liz Truss echoed warnings that Putin could be personally hit with sanctions, and urged Ukraine's allies to send more military support
- Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned Moscow is ready to quickly take 'retaliatory measures' if its security demands aren't met, warning that it will not wait forever for a response
- Putin stressed the importance of ties between Russia's energy industry and Italy as he personally spoke with Italian business leaders in a video-conference
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